Control mechanism



Jan. 9, 1940. E. c. BUNNELL CONTROL MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJune 4, 1938 TOR 65 n V F 2 1/ Q ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 9, 1940. E. c. BUNNELL CONTROL MECHANISM Filed June 4, 1938 2Sheets-Sheet 2 0F 77L N6 LEVER ATTORN EYS.

Patented Jan. 9, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE The Baird MachineCompany,

Conn, a corporation Bridgeport, of Connecticut Application June 4, 1938,Serial No. 211,964

13 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in controlmechanisms, and has particular relation to a control for the circuit ofan electric motor used in the swinging of a device about an axis, suchfor example as raising and lowering of a mechanism, as a tumblingbarrel, swinging of a gate or the like to automatically stop and locatethe device at a predetermined position.

An object of the invention is to provide in connection with a tumblingbarrel or other devices manually adjustable means for starting a tiltingmovement of the barrel or other device and automatic means for stoppingsuch movement at a predetermined point, which predetermined point isdetermined by the extent of the adjustment of said adjustable means.

Another object is to provide a control means including a part in thenature of a pointer or handle to be manually shifted and which controlsa power source for moving a tumbling barrel, gate orthe like into apredetermined relation to such pointer or handle.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a considerationof the following detailed description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings wherein 'a satisfactory embodiment of theinvention is shown by way of example as applied to a tumbling barrel.However, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to thedetails disclosed or to use on tumbling barrels but includes all suchvariations and modifications as fall within the scope of the inventionand of the appended claims, and it may be used on other devices whichare swung about an axis.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view showing a tumbling barrel equippedwith the mechanism of the present invention;

,Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the mechanism of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view on an enlarged scale and showingparticularly the control mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view on an of the control mechanism; and

Fig. 5 is the wiring diagram of a control system which may be employed.

Referring in detail to the drawings, at In and H are shown frame membersconnected as by bars I2 and a bracket l3. Bracket l3 carries bearings I4and I5 for a short shaft l6 to one end of which is secured a relativelylarge gear I! meshing with a small gear [8 driven by an electricenlarged scale motor I9. In alignment with the bearing M the bracketcarries a bearing for a relatively short stud or shaft 2|, and the innerend of shaft I6 together with the inner end of shaft 2! serves to mountthe tumbling barrel cannon piece 22 since the bifurcated end portions 23of the cannon are mounted on and rotatable about the inner or opposedends of such shafts.

Cannon piece 22 forms a bearing for the shaft 24 of a large beveled gear25, the hub 26 of which enters between the cannon portions 23. On itsforward side gear is provided with a series of bosses 28 used inmounting a tumbling barrel 2!! of any desired construction, on the gear.Shaft l6 carries a small beveled pinion 30 meshing with the gear 25, andit will be apparent that on motor l9 being energized it will through thegears l8, ll, 30 and 25 cause rotation of the barrel 29. The cannon 22being rotatableon the inner end portions of the shafts l6 and 2! it willbe apparent that it, together with the barrel 28, may be rocked ortilted upwardly and downwardly in the usual manner.

A pivot means 3| secures to the under side of the cannon, adjacent theouter end thereof, the upper end portion of an arcuate or curved rack32, the teeth of which mesh with those of a relatively small gear pinion33 secured to a shaft 34 turnable in the frame members Ill and II. Onthe shaft 34 serving to drive it is a larger gear 35 meshing with anddriven from a smaller gear 36. Gear 36 is rotated by an electric motor3! through any desired reduction train in the housing 38. For thepresent purposes motor 3'! is a reversing motor and it will beunderstood that as it rotates in one direction the feed of the rack 32will be upwardly so as to tilt the barrel 29 downwardly for dumping orthe like, and that as the motor 31 rotates in the opposite direction, itwill feed the rack 32 downwardly tilting the barrel 29 upwardly.

0n the outer end portion of the shaft 2| is mounted a lever 39 to whichis rigidly connected a tubular handle or pointer 40. Secured to thelever 39 as by screws 4| is a plate-like member or cam 42 having anarcuate outer edge 43. Also turnable on the shaft 2| is a sleeve 44carrying a radially extending arm 45 provided with a relatively longhead-like portion 46 to the outer side of which are secured normallyopen limit switches 41 and 48 including triggers or arms 49 and 50respectively. For the purposes of the present invention, the triggers orcontrols 49 and 50 of the switches must move with the cannon 22. Toinsure such movement an arm 5| is secured to the cannon at one end byscrews 52 and at its other end to the arm 45 by a screw 53. The switches41 and 48' are standard limit switches which can be purchased on themarket and are so constructed that as long as their triggers or levers49 and 59 are held in a given position, in the present case outwardly,the switch is closed to close the circuit controlled thereby, but assoon as the trigger or lever is released the switch moves immediately tothe on? position to open the circuit.'

Switch 4! is connected with the motor 31 in such manner that on closingof said switch the motor 3! will operate in a direction to feed the vdirection to feed the rack 32 downwardly and tilt the barrel 29upwardly. The member 42 is adapted to be manually adjusted by turningmove ment of the lever 39 on the shaft2l so as to bring the arcuatesurface 49 of said member into engagement with one of the switchtriggers. When the surfaoe43 is against a switch trigger, as where inFig. 3 the switch trigger 49 is engaged with surface 49, that trigger isbeing held in its outer position and in such position that its switch isclosed.

In Fig. 3 switch trigger 49 being engaged with the arcuate surface 43,the switch 41 is closed and the motor 3! is operated in a direction tofeed the rack 32 upwardly whereby the cannon 22 is being tilted upwardlyabout the shafts l6 and 2! and the barrel 29 is being tilted downwardly. As long as the switch trigger 49 remains in'engagement with thesurface 43 the motor will continue to operate as described. However, itwill be understood that the arm 45 is being carried upwardly with thecannon 22 so that the switch trigger 49 is being fed along the surface43 toward the upperend thereof. When the trigger moves off the upper endof surface 43 as suggested by the dotted lines at the top of Fig. 3,limit switch 4? automatically opens (the trigger orl'ever 49 being movedinwardly by a suitable spring provided in the switch) breaking thecircult to the motor 31.

The distance between the triggers 49 and 59 is slightly greater than thelength of the arcuate surface 43 of member 42 so that with plate 42 inthe intermediate position both triggers 49 and 59 are off the are 43,both switches are open and motor 31 stationary, and there is no tiltingmo- 5 it engage either'the trigger 49 orthe trigger 59 whereby to closethe circuit through either the switch 41 or the switch 48. That is, thedirection of adjustment of the member 42 determines the direction inwhich the barrel 29 will be tilted and the extent to which the member 42is adjusted determines the extent of movement which will be imparted tothe barrel.

If the barrel is horizontal as in Fig. l and stationary the handle 49will be in the dotted line horizontal position of that figure and theswitch triggers 49 and 59 will be at the upper and lower edges of themember 42. Now if it is desired that the barrel be tilted downwardly theoperator pushes the handle 40 downwardly to the position he wishes thebarrel to be tilted, such for example, as to the full-line position ofFig. 1. This brings surface 43 of member 42 under the trigger 49 wherebymotor 3'! is energized and operated in a direction to tilt the barrel 29outwardly.

The relation of the parts is such that the angle of the handle 49determines the angle into which the barrel 29 will be moved. Thereforethe operator simply positions the handle at about the angle he wishesthe barrel to assume and then he may proceed with other work, knowingthat when the barrel has been tilted to the desired angle either theswitch trigger 49 or the switch trigger 59 will move off the surface 43breaking the circuit to the motor 31.

The lever 99 is prevented from moving off the end of shaft 2! by meansof a cross bar 54 secured to the end of the shaft by screws 55 and thisbar threaded into the outer end of extension 62.

At its inner end rod63 bears against a coil spring 64, and such springin turn bears against a plug 65. Rod 63 may be adjusted inwardly oroutwardly to vary the pressure of spring 94 against plug 65 and thespring maintains the plug against the shaft 2| creating a frictionwhereby the sleeve 39 and parts carried thereon will be frictionallymaintainedin any desired position of adjustment. A look nut 99 on therod 53 serves to secure it in any desired adjusted position. 7

At its outer end handle 49 carries a switch including push buttons 6'!and 68, and the leads (not shown) from such switch are preferablycarried in this rod and connect with the starting and" stoppingmechanism 'for the motor l9, so that this switch controls itsconnectionwith a suitable source of power. With this arrangement theoperator'may from a position at one side of the barrel 29 controltiltingmovement and also rotary movement of the. barrel. Forexample theoperator may set the lever or handle 49 in any position desired and atthe same time may open or close the switch 69 controlled by the pushbuttons 9'! and 98 to have the motor l9 rotate the 1 barrel or have it.remain stationary as desired.

In Fig. 5 the switch box for the motor I9 is shown at W and the switchboxes for the motor 3'! are shown at 10 and II. I

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim is:

1. In combination, a shaft, a member on and tiltable I about said shaft,a reversible electric motor for tilting said member, a pair of normallyopenswitches controlling the direction of rotation ofsaid motor, atrigger for each of said switches, means on and manually shiftable aboutsaid shaft andselectively engageable with said triggers to selectivelyclose said switches and determine the direction of rotation of saidmotor, and said triggers being mounted to move with A counterbalancingrod 63, to counterbalance the weight of handle 40, is

said' member and arranged as they are moved therewith out of engagementwithsaid manually shiftable means to again open the circuit of saidmotor. 1

2. In combination with a tumbling barrel including a reversing motorformoving the barrel up and down about a pivotal mounting, a pair ofnormally open switches controlling the direction of rotation of saidmotor and thus thedirection of movement of the barrel relative to itspivotal mounting, a trigger controlling each of said switches, meansmanually adjustable about said pivotal mounting into selectiveengagement with said switch triggers to operate the same and close theswitch thereof and while in engagement with such trigger maintain theswitch closed, and said switch triggers being movable about said pivotalmounting with the barrel whereby an engaged trigger will be carried offsaid means at the end of a predetermined movement of the barrel and willreturn to normal position opening the circuit of said motor.

3. In combination wit-h a shaft and a member pivoted on the shaft, areversing motor connected to move said member about the shaft in adirection depending on the direction of rotation of the motor, a pair ofnormally open switches controlling the direction of rotation of saidmotor, a a switch trigger connected with each of said switches, a membermanually adjustable about the'shaft' and including an arcuate surfaceadapted to be brought into engagement with a selected one of said switchtriggers to operate it to close one of said switches and have said motormove said first member in a selected direction about the shaft, and saidswitch triggers connected to and movable with said first member wherebyto be carried out of engagement with said arcuate surface in anyadjusted position of the latter to open the circuit to and stop saidmotor at the end of a movement of said first member the limit of whichmovement is determined by the adjustment of said member.

4. In combination with a tumbling barrel including a reversing motor formoving the barrel up and down about a pivotal mounting, a pair ofnormally open switches controlling the direction of rotation of saidmotor and thus the direction of movement of the barrelrelative to itspivotal mounting, a trigger controlling each of said switches, meansmanually adjustable about said pivotal mounting into selectiveengagement with said switch triggers to operate the same and close theswitch thereof and while in engagement with such trigger maintain theswitch closed, said switch triggers movable about said pivotal mountingwith the barrel whereby an engaged trigger will be carried off saidmeans at the end of a predetermined movement of the barrel and willreturn to normal position opening the circuit of said motor, andpositive stop means limiting the extent of movement of said adjustablemeans about said pivotal mounting.

5. In a tumbling barrel, 2. stand, a shaft supported by said stand, amember supported on and turnable about said shaft and extending from oneside thereof, a shaft turnable in said member, a gear supported on saidsecond shaft, a barrel secured to said gear at the side of the firstshaft opposite said member, an electric motor geared to said gear fordriving the same and thereby rotating said barrel, means adjustableabout said first shaft, a reversible motor connected for rocking saidmember and barrel about the first shaft in a direction depending on thedirection of roeach of said switches and movable therewith and withwhich said means may be selectively engaged and which while inengagement with themeans will close the said switches, meansfrictionally mounted on said first shaft and carrying the first means, ahandle secured to the second mentioned means and extending radiallytherefrom, said sec-- nd mentioned means operable to shift the firstmentioned means into engagement with one of said triggers and to have itremain in engagement therewith until movement of said barrel and membercarries the trigger out of engagement with said first mentioned means.

6. In combination, a member mounted for movement about an axis, a motorfor moving said member in either direction about said axis, a manuallyoperable means mounted to be shifted to different positions, controlmeans for the motor movable with said member, and means .movable withsaid manual means cooperating with the control means to start the motoron shifting of the manual means and to stop the motor after apredetermined movement of the member.

'7. In combination, a mechanism mounted for movement about an axis, amotor for moving said mechanism in either direction about said axis, acontrol member movable about said axis to different predeterminedpositions and having a curved surface, a pair of spaced control meansfor said motor one of which when in contact with the curved surfacecauses the motor to shift the mechanism in one direction and the otherwhen in contact with said surface causes the motor to shift themechanism in the opposite direction, said control means being movablewith the mech anism about said axis and being spaced from each other a.distance slightly greater than the length of the curved surface so thatwhen they are both out of contact with said surface the motor isstationary, and means for shifting the first control member to differentpositions.

8. In combination, a member mounted for movement about an axis, a motorfor moving said member in either direction about said axis, a

I control member movable about said axis to different predeterminedpositions and having a curved surface, a pair of control switches forsaid motor to control its operation in opposite directions and includingtriggers to engage said surface to close their respective switches, saidswitches being movable with said first member about said axis andarranged with their triggers spaced a distance somewhat greater than thelength of said curved surface, and means for shifting said controlmember to different positions.

9. In combination, a member mounted for movement about an axis, areversing motor for moving said member in either direction about saidaxis, manually shiftable means for starting operation of said motor tomove said member in the selected direction and arranged to causemovement of the member in the desired direction by movement of .the saidmeans in the same direction, and said means including means forautomatically stopping said motor at the end of a predetermined movementof said member about said axis.

10. In combination with a tumbling barrel including a reversing motorfor moving the barrel up and down about a pivotal mounting and a motorfor rotating the barrel, manually shiftable means for starting andautomatically stopping rotation of the first mentioned motor in theselected direction, said means including a handle extending at the sideof the barrel for convenient manipulation of the shiftable means, saidshiftable means arranged to cause movement of the barrel in a directiondetermined by the direction of shifting of the handle and an amountproportional to the amount of shifting of the handle, and switch meanson said handle and controlling starting and stopping of the secondmentioned motor.

11. In combination with a tumbling barrel including a reversing motorfor moving the barrel up and down about a pivotal mounting, a handle atthe side of said barrel, means movable various amounts by shifting ofsaid handle proportional amounts, and said meanscontrolling thedirection of movement of the barrelabout said pivotal mounting by themotor according to the direction of shifting of the handle'and alsocontrolling the extent of said movement proportional to the amount ofshifting of the handle.

12., In combination, a member mounted for movement in either of oppositedirections, a motor for moving said member in either direction, acontrol member movable to different predetermined positions and having acontrol surface, a pair of spaced control means for said motor one i ofwhich when in contact with the control surface causes the motor to shiftthe first member in one direction andthe other when in contact with'saidsurface causes the motor to shift saidgreater than the length of thecontrol surface so that when they are both out of contact with saidsurface the motor is stationary, and means for shifting the firstcontrol member to different positions, H

13. In combination, a member mounted for movement in either of oppositedirections, a'mo-i tor for moving said member in either direction, acontrol member having a control surface, a pair of spaced control meansfor said motor one of which when in contact with the control surfacecausesthe motor to shift the first member in one directionand the otherwhen in contactwith said surface causes the motor to shift said memberin the opposite direction, o-ne'of said control members and saidcontrol,means being movable to different predetermined positions; means forshifting said movable control member or control means to differentpositions, the other. of said control member and said control meansbeing movable with the first member, and said pair of control meansbeing spaced from each other a distance slightly greater than the lengthof the control surface so that when they are both out of contact withsaid surface the motor is stationary.

. EARL C. BUNNELL.

